Essex girl

Essex girl

"Essex girl" is a pejorative term used in the United Kingdom, to imply someone is a stereotypically promiscuous, blonde, unintelligent woman from Essex. It was most widely used and gained popularity during the 1980s and 1990s. Its use has waned somewhat since the increase in popularity of the "chav" label. One of the main reasons for the origin of the term may be due to Essex's geographical proximity to London. Many Essex residents do come to London by train for the weekend out. It is mirrored in U.S. by the term Jersey Girl (or equally useful 'bridge-and-tunnel-crowd') with less emphasis on promiscuity.

Unlike the comparable "Essex man", which developed originally as a political term broadly describing aspirational working-class voters in the South and East of England who voted for Margaret Thatcher, "Essex girl" did not carry such explicit political connotations.

Image

The stereotypical image was formed as a variation of the dumb blonde/bimbo persona, with references to the Estuary English accent, white stiletto heels, peroxide blonde hair, promiscuity, loud verbal vulgarity, and to socialising at downmarket nightclubs in large groups.cite web| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/women/story/0,3604,446451,00.html| title=G2: Long live the Essex Girl| accessdate=2006-12-02| author=Germaine Greer]

"Time" magazine has written:

The term initially became synonymous with the lead characters of Sharon and Tracey in the BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather. These brash and uninhibited women had escaped working class backgrounds in London and moved to a large house in Chigwell.

The image has since been epitomised in celebrity culture with the likes of Denise Van Outen, Jodie Marsh and Chantelle Houghton all rising to fame predominantly with the help of their 'Essex Girl' image.

Essex girl jokes

Essex girl jokes are primarily variations of Blonde jokes though often more sexually explicit. In 2004, Bob Russell, the Liberal Democrat MP for the Colchester district of Essex appealed for debate in the House of Commons on the issue and encouraged a boycott of "The People" tabloid, which has printed several derogatory references to girls from Essex. cite web| url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=25373| title=MP urges boycott of The People over Essex Girl jokes| accessdate=2007-09-12| author=David Rose]

References

Further reading

*cite book|title=Jokes and Their Relation to Society|author=Christie Davies|date=1998|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|id=ISBN 3110161044|pages=186–189

ee also

*Chav
*Dumb blonde
*Valley girl
*Westie (person) (Australia/New Zealand)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Essex Girl — noun (informal) An archetypal SE English working class female with lowbrow tastes and supposedly limited intelligence • • • Main Entry: ↑Essex * * * Essex girl 7 [Essex girl] [ˈesɪks ɡɜːl] [ˈesɪks ɡɜːl] noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • Essex girl — Noun. Stereotypically describing a female from the county of Essex, or a female of the style of an Essex girl . Characteristics may include being working class, sexually promiscuous, fashion conscious, heavily drinking, confident and of low… …   English slang and colloquialisms

  • Essex girl — n (BrE humor disapprov) the name used especially in jokes, etc. to refer to a type of young English woman who is rather stupid, dresses badly, talks in a loud and unpleasant way, and is very willing to have sex: The men at the bar were telling… …   Universalium

  • Essex girl — noun A stereotype of a young woman characterized as unintelligent, promiscuous and materialistic; the butt of many politically incorrect jokes …   Wiktionary

  • Essex man — and Mondeo man are stereotypical figures which were popularised in 1990s England. Essex man as a political figure is an example of a type of median voter and was used to help explain the electoral successes of Margaret Thatcher in the previous… …   Wikipedia

  • Essex — This name of one of the English Home Counties conjures up an image originating in the 1980s of the brash, amoral, self made right wing young businessman lacking all refinement and cultural interest, and his promiscuous, materialistic girlfriend:… …   Modern English usage

  • Essex, Massachusetts — Infobox Settlement official name = Essex, Massachusetts nickname = motto = imagesize = 300px image caption = Essex in early autumn, showing the Essex River and surrounding wetlands image mapsize = 250px map caption = Location in Essex County in… …   Wikipedia

  • Valley girl — Articleissues copyedit = January 2008 tooshort = January 2008 refimprove = October 2008 POV = January 2008 disputed = January 2008Valley Girl (less commonly, Val ) is a term referred to affluent middle class young girls living in the neighborhood …   Wikipedia

  • St Helena School, Essex — Infobox UK school name = St Helena School size = latitude = 51.895202 longitude = 0.888474 dms = dms motto = motto pl = established = 1938 approx = closed = c approx = type = Comprehensive religion = president = head label = Headteacher head = Mr …   Wikipedia

  • David Essex — This article is about the singer. For his 1974 album, see David Essex (album). David Essex Birth name David Albert Cook Born 23 July 1947 (1947 07 23) (age 64) Plaistow, (then Essex, now Greater London), England …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”